Corrupt Heiress
by EmmaTheFangirl02
Summary: Marinette Dupain-Cheng is still the klutzy, nervous, madly in love teenager that lives the double life as a part-time hero. The crew has grown, and life is great! Things get better when she receives an invitation to attend the Agreste Holiday Party! But a threat comes onto the horizon. It's more than just a few akumas, and all hands need to be on deck! WARNING: S2 SPOILERS!
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! This is my first time using this website, but isn't my first time writing fanfiction! Honestly, this website is kinda difficult (am I the only one who thinks this?) Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this fanfiction!**

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Adrenaline was pumping through the girl's veins. Her bluenette pigtails bounced and flew in the air as the chill, crisp wind put up a weak fight. The layer of snow building up crunched under her new early Christmas present boots. The light, delicate snowflakes decorated the girl's body. She ran across the crosswalk, not paying attention to the cars—or lack thereof—that were usually on the busy road. Happiness bubbled in her chest, threatening to pop and make her heart explode. She was so happy she could cry.

Marinette three the bakery door open in excitement. Her parents, understandably startled, stopped what they were doing and turned around to see their daughter grinning from ear to ear. "Marinette, how many times do we have to tell you to not slam the door? The glass may shatter!" Sabine scolded.

Marinette ignored her mother's warning. "Mom! Dad! Guess what I got?!" she yelled, bouncing up and down in happiness.

"What is it, Honey?" Tom asked, washing the frosting off of his hands.

Marinette slammed the unopened envelope on the front counter. She squeed as her mother picked up the envelope with care as though it were fragile. Her brows furrowed as she investigated it, Sabine's eyes gazed over every inch of the envelope before her eyes landed on the emblem seal. Her eyes widened.

"Why would you have gotten a letter from the Agrestes?" Sabine asked, her tone carrying confusion. Tom came over and placed a hand on his wife's shoulder, taking a look at the envelope she was holding.

"Because!" Was all Marinette could get out of her throat.

Tom took the envelope into his own hands, looking at it further. A moment later, he extended the envelope out to his daughter. "You seem pretty excited, maybe you should open it," he said with a tight-lipped grin. Marinette yanked the envelope out of her father's hand and tugged her wool knitted mittens off, throwing them behind her.

She stopped herself, forcing herself to take a breather. She inhaled and exhaled slowly, trying to calm herself down enough to not rip the envelope into millions of pieces. Once confident enough to start opening it, she began to pick at the wax sealing, hoping she could keep in intact in one piece. Her attempts were successful in keeping the seal intact, but not with the rest of the envelope. Once she got the flap open, her heart pounded out of her chest, seeing the card.

With a jittery hand, she pinched the card and slowly took it out of the white envelope, revealing a porcelain white card with a thick cloud grey border and ruby red calligraphy that read, "Happy Holidays". Marinette was shaking, opening the card. Tension filled the room, her parents holding each other's hands tightly. Sabine bit her lip.

A few seconds later the room quickly filled with screams from Marinette. "Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!" she yelled repeatedly.

"Can we see it?" Sabine asked. Marinette extended her arm out with a bold jolt. Her mother took the card out of her daughter's hand with force, opening the card gingerly.

Sabine opened the card wide opened, letting her husband read it as well. "Dear Guest," Sabine read aloud. "It is with great pleasure that you are invited to the annual Agreste Holiday Party!" she read out, her mocha brown eyes lighting up. "Oh, Honey! We're so excited for you!" She placed the card on the counter and rushed over to give her daughter a big hug.

While the two were hugging each other, Tom picked up the card and opened it again, seeing what else was written inside of it. "The theme of the party is Multicultural, so please dress accordingly. Please note that by attending this party, you agree for any form of media that shows you in it can be shown publicly, such as the television, the newspaper, and etcetera. If you cannot attend, please call…" Tom let his voice trail off as he read the rest of the letter. He placed the card down with care as he walked over to his wife and daughter. The two broke up the hugging session as Tom began to talk. "I'm so happy for you, Sweetie." He and his daughter shared a quick hug before she snatched the card off of the counter and dashed upstairs.

Marinette ran up the stairs in twos, slammed the door behind her, and threw her card onto her desk by the computer as she shrugged her backpack off and spun herself into her desk chair with grace. Realizing that she had a friend with her, she clicked her purse open, letting Tikki free. "Isn't that just the best thing to have ever happened?!" Marinette shouted.

"Please don't slam the door!" Sabine hollered.

"Sorry, mom!" Was all Marinette said in response as she opened her backpack and dug around for her fashion sketchbook.

Tikki zipped over to the front of Marinette's face. "You sound happy, what happened?" Tikki asked, her antennas drooping, signaling confusion.

Marinette began explaining what all had happened while continuing to search for her sketchbook, starting from the beginning of the day.

"Tikki, I'm just over the moon happy! It all started this morning when I noticed Adrien wasn't at school." Marinette let out a sigh of disappointment before continuing with the story. "And then Nathalie, Mr. Agreste's assistant, came into the class and addressed us, saying that Adrien was sick but the annual Agreste Holiday Party invitations needed to be passed out. She had two envelopes in her hand."

Tikki decided to interject. "I remember you talking about it a week or so ago. Don't Chloe and Sabrina get the invitations?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.

Marinette pulled out her sketchbook and pouch of pencils and placed them on the sewing desk, shoving the loose fabric pieces aside. "Yea, but guess what?" Marinette squeaked out.

"What?" Tikki asked with gleeful anticipation.

"Nathalie walked over and gave Sabrina one, then walked past Chloe and stood right in front of Alya's and my desk. She then placed the envelope on my side of the desk and scooted it closer to me before turning around and walking off!" Marinette yelled, pushing herself back from the desk and kicking her legs frantically in excitement. "Isn't that amazing, Tikki? I got invited to the Agreste Holiday Party this year!"

Tikki's eyes widened. "No way! I'm so happy for you, Marinette!" she chimed, zooming all around. "Where's the card?" she asked.

"By the computer," she told Tikki, opening her sketchbook to the next available page. Tikki used her strength to open the card, which was surprisingly heavy. Tikki began reading the card while Marinette began to brainstorm dress ideas.

"Multicultural, huh?" Tikki asked. "Maybe you could tap into your Chinese side of your family?" she suggested.

Marinette's head popped up. "Tikki, that's it!" Usually, she had to draw several sketches of different dress ideas, but with such an amazing idea given to her, all she needed to do was figure out the nitty-gritty details of the dress.

Time passed by. A lot of it. Rather than doing homework like expected, the bluenette sat at her desk, focused on drawing the perfect dress. Above or below knees? What should the pattern be? Floral like a typical Chinese dress or should she put her own twist on it? During the course of the time sitting and sketching out ideas, she would get up and wander around, use the restroom, stretch. At one point she decided to change out of her sugar cookie cable knitted sweater and into something more cooler. While it was the dead of winter, Marinette's room got quite hot. She didn't want to open the balcony door, fearing that the snow may get into her room. In the end, she found herself comfortable in a black tank top.

It was late in the afternoon by the time either one of them spoke again. Tikki was the one to break the silence. "Should I turn the news on?" she asked.

Marinette stopped what she was doing and looked up at her kwami friend. "Sure, I can do it. Besides, this silence is killing me, anyway." Marinette pushed her chair to the other side of the desk, turning on her computer and getting it connected to the local news. She scooted back and continued drawing.

"Most kids are now out of school for the next two weeks for winter break!" the news anchor chimed. Marinette tuned out the sound and continued to draw. A few minutes later, she decided to tune in to the news again. "...and on Christmas Eve, our Department of Environmental Management says that the local ponds in Paris will be clear to ice skate." Marinette turned around and saw her shoe box that contained her ice skates. A grin grew on her face before she turned back around and continued to listen to the news. "Our team has just received news of someone, or something, wreaking havoc near the Eiffel Tower!" Marinette froze and focused all of her attention on her computer monitor.

Live footage was shown on the screen. The person causing trouble had pale skin, almost matching the color of the fresh snow. Their hair was a golden blond, tied up in a high ponytail and part of it jagging out, the bangs following the same thing. They wore a body tight suit and adorned an extra four limbs. Their body suit was a dark, holographic blue-green with rotten yellow jagged and stripe designs. Their eyes resembled one of a wasp or hornet, and a large stinger was noticed on their behind.

"If only Ladybug and the crew were here!" the news anchor cried out. Marinette stood up, looking around for Tikki.

"Tikki!" she called out. The little kwami zipped over.

"What's up?" she asked, turning around to look at the monitor.

"Paris needs Ladybug!" Marinette chimed out. "Tikki, spots on!"

After transforming into the hero in need, she pulled out her phone and began calling her fighting mates.

First, Chat Noir. Voicemail, as usual. "Hey Chat, it's me, Ladybug. I need you to meet me at the Eiffel Tower. There's another villain to fight. Be there soon!" She hung up.

Next, Volpina. She answered. "Hey, meet me at- you know. Of course you do. Meet ya there!" She hung up.

Finally, Queen Bee. Voicemail, unusual. "Hey Queen Bee, it's Ladybug. We need you at the Eiffel Tower now. Bye!" She hung up.

Ladybug opened the balcony doors leading outside. Closing the doors behind her, she pulled out her yo-yo, ready to travel. "How odd for Queen Bee to not answer."


	2. Chapter 2

**PLEASE REREAD! I have added more onto the chapter as the original 3rd chapter was waaaaaay too short! I suck at writing action scenes, so forgive me if it isn't action-packed enough. Also, I thought the chapters would be longer myself. I expect the next chapter to be short as well, and then the rest of them to pick up in word count/length. Hope you don't mind the kinda short chapters!**

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Ladybug landed on top of a flat-roofed building that was in close range of the Eiffel Tower. The soft snow crunched under her feet as she slowly walked to get a better view. While taking in the view, an audible grunt was heard from behind. Ladybug turned around, getting into fighting stance. What she was met with was her cunning fox ally instead.

"Chill. It's just me," she said, approaching Ladybug.

Ladybug relaxed her stance. "Oh. Sorry, Volpina," she apologized.

"No problem," she said, strolling up beside her friend. She looked at the Eiffel Tower, seeing the problem at hand in action. "Great. A flying one?"

"Yep," Ladybug replied. "Too bad Queen Bee didn't answer. This would've been the perfect one for her to fight." Volpina turned her head to face Ladybug, her eyes widening.

"Excuse me, what?" she asked, shocked by what her companion said.

"Queen Bee didn't answer. I was shocked myself," she told her. A sound of scraping was heard, and the two spun around to see their cat sidekick flying in the air along with his bo staff. He failed his landing and fell face first into the ice cold snow.

Both Ladybug and Volpina ran over to help him up. "What happened? I thought cats were too nimble to fall," Volpina teased.

Chat Noir sniffed. "Sorry," he said, his stuffy tone coming through. "Just sick, that's all. Nothing more than a cold."

Ladybug gave her feline companion a doubting glare. "Maybe you should take an easier role. Since you're sick after all," she lamented.

"Are you kidding me?" Chat challenged boisterously. He let out a huge sneeze before going on. "I can handle my usual role! A little cold shouldn't affect the great Chat Noir!"

"Okay, then," Ladybug muttered. She felt a pang in her heart. Her stomach tied a knot of uneasiness, but knew that she couldn't waste any more time. "What's the game plan, folks?" she asked.

Volpina spoke up. "I can cause a distraction. I'll summon illusions of your guy's miraculouses. That's what Hawkmoth goes for, after all."

Chat spoke up next. "Great! Then I can extend my bo staff and trip 'em!" he chimed. Another sneeze later and he continued. "Ladybug can summon her Lucky Charm and Queen Bee can fly her over wherever she needs to be!"

"Yea, but Queen Bee isn't here," Ladybug commented. "She didn't answer my call."

Chat Noir's pupils dilated in surprise. He coughed and cleared his throat before speaking again. "Alright then. I can take you where you need to be, M'lady," he extended his arm across Ladybug's shoulders in a flirty attempt. Ladybug gave him a weird look in return and shrugged off his arm.

"Ready to go, team?" she asked. The two nodded, one of them coughing right afterwards. Ladybug's guilt swelled in her chest, but tried to push it back as she leaped off the roof and lead her team to the akumatized criminal.

As they charged, Ladybug pulled out her yo-yo. Volpina flipped out her reed flute. Chat Noir had a coughing fit before extending out his bo staff. They approached the victim with speed. Halfway onto the grassy field, the evildoer spun around in anger before flying off furiously. Snow blew up and covered the three in their tracks.

A warm C note came from a pile of snow, melting to reveal Volpina. She jumped out and played the note for her partners, who were also freed from the snow.

"Let's go!" Ladybug yelled. Chat coughed before they began running again.

Soon enough, they were met with the tall tower itself. Before anyone could think, Chat Noir dashed up and clung onto one of the bars. "I'm coming, you buzzing brat!" he called out.

"Chat!" Ladybug yelled. Chat jumped and propelled himself before clinging to another bar of the Eiffel Tower.

He traveled up the tower with surprising ease. Halfway up without notice, the wasp humanoid turned around and locked eyes with Chat Noir. Ladybug's heart nearly palpitated at the sight. The honeycomb eyes terrified the lady in costume. She swallowed her fear, pulling out her yo-yo.

"Lucky Charm!" she boomed out, wanting to be prepared. Her yo-yo flew in the air and opened up, popping out a red stretcher dotted with black. It fell through the snow. "A stretcher?" she asked, picking it back up.

She began looking around. The pieces came together as her vision guided her. Stretcher. Volpina. Chat Noir. Tikki hadn't given her the key to fighting back the creature, but rather the key to keep her partner alive!

"Volpina!" she called out. She turned around to face Ladybug. "Grab the other end!" Volpina raised an eyebrow in confusion, but did as told.

Suddenly, a high pitched scream reverberated in might. The two almost dropped the stretcher to cover up their ears. The sound stopped, and other scream replaced it. Ladybug and Volpina looked up at the same time.

"Chat!" the two yelled in unison. They positioned themselves, ready to catch him. With a bounce and a thud, Chat Noir fell onto the stretcher and jumped out of it, falling onto the ground. He began hacking furiously.

"Are you alright?" Ladybug asked frantically. He said nothing as he continued to cough. Volpina elbowed Ladybug. "What?" she hissed.

"His miraculous! It's gone!" she hissed. Ladybug took a closer look. Sure enough, the ring was gone.

Ladybug shoved her hands under the body of her partner and struggled to hold him up. "C'mon! We've gotta hide him somewhere!" she grunted out, plopping him onto the stretcher. Volpina stared at her partner and nodded before picking up her side of the stretcher. Ladybug picked up the other side and the two began running off to the nearest alleyway.

Volpina looked back to see the news cameras aiming in their direction. "Hey Ladybug, I think this is being broadcasted," she said in a distressed tone.

Ladybug gave a scowled look. "Well, we can't let the cat out of the bag, now!" she yelled, running backwards while trying to find an alleyway.

Volpina sighed and shook her head. "Man, you've spent way too much time with Chat."

Ladybug just sighed in annoyance before seeing a glowing green light. She looked at the curled up body. "He's de-transforming!" she yelled.

Volpina locked her gaze on the closest alleyway. "Quickly! This way!"

Ladybug began to pick up her speed. It was hard to, especially when running backwards. The green glow seemed to slow down along with time itself. Adrenaline was coursing through the hero's veins. Time was everything. Every second mattered.

They got into the dark alleyway and dropped the stretcher. Without wasting another second, Volpina jumped up onto the roof of the building right by the alley. "C'mon Ladybug, let's go!" she hollered.

Ladybug simply nodded, gulping down her nervousness. She ran and whipped out her yo-yo, tying around a pole attached to the same roof. "Good luck!" she called out to the de-transforming Chat Noir.

Chat sat up, now back into Adrien Agreste. He groaned and rubbed his back before coughing some more.

"Plagg, remind me to never go out as Chat while sick," he said, standing up.

Nothing.

"Plagg?" he called out. "If this is a joke-" he coughed, "it's not funny!"

Nothing.

"Where did you go? Plagg?" Adrien thought that maybe he was resting up in his ring. He looked down to adjust his it when he felt his finger. No ring.

"My miraculous! Where did it go?" he asked, panicking. Suddenly, a loud screech boomed.

"Remember me as Heiress Hive! The collector of all miraculouses!" People's screams filled Adrien's ears. And yet, there was nothing he could do about it. Hot tears welled up in his eyes.

"Heiress Hive must have taken my miraculous," he whispered, slowly losing his voice. He had another hacking fit, causing him to fall to his knees and tears stream down his face. "Plagg, I wish you were here."

That was the last thing he said as collapsed onto the cold, hard concrete. Adrien couldn't breathe due to his continuous hacking as his face was washed with tears. He was too tired to go home. He had just lost his crime-fighting companion. His best friend.

Meanwhile, Ladybug and Volpina were running side by side. Once the two believed that they were far enough away, they screeched to a halt and caught their breaths.

"Heiress Hive is the name, eh?" Volpina gasped out.

Ladybug nodded her head as she continued to catch her breath.

The all too familiar beeping emitted from the two heroes.

"Shoot!" Volpina cursed, looking up at her companion. "We're about to de-transform soon!"

Ladybug got her yo-yo out ready to swing back home. "Wanna meet at the Eiffel Tower tonight?" she asked.

"To look for Chat's miraculous?" Volpina asked. "Sure. Midnight or so?"

"Yep!" Ladybug chimed. "See ya later!" With that, she swung off.

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Marinette was late to class. As usual.

Heavy bags made a statement under the teenager's eyes. Her slouched demeanor expressed just how tired she was as she came shuffling into the classroom.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng, tardy. Again." The teacher scowled. Then another sight came to the classroom. And this one was a shocker to the class.

The door creaked open again. This time, a certain brunette dyed copper red, tan skinned teenager came dragging in with bagged eyes and a slouched walk as well. Alya yawned as she took her seat beside Marinette.

"Alya Césaire, tardy?" The teacher looked up in confusion. "That's the first time you've ever been tardy, miss Césaire. Is everything alright?" she asked.

Alya yawned before answering. "Yea. Just working on homework," she said.

The teacher glared at her student for a moment before lightening up. "Yea. Well, with the nail-biting fight with Heiress Hive, and the part where Chat Noir was taken off by a stretcher with Ladybug and Volpina!" Marinette's leg shook while Alya to bite her nails. "Where was Queen Bee? Personally, she's my favorite." The two began looking around, but never at each other.

"Anyways, I need to finish attendance. Chloé Bourgeois, absent." Suddenly, the phone rang. The teacher stopped what she was doing and picked up the phone.

"Hello? Oh yes, Mr. Bourgeois! She's sick, you say? Okay! Well, I hope she recovers! Have a nice holiday week Mr. Bourgeois, and tell Chloé happy winter break! M'kay, bye!" The teacher walked back over and continued taking attendance.

That's when Marinette's sleepy eyes found an empty spot. She sighed in sadness as she rested her head down on her desk.

"Too bad Adrien isn't here, right?" Alya teased tiredly. Marinette nodded before her heavy eyes encouraged her to take a little nap.

After she and Alya took a little trip down to the principal's office, the end of the day school bell rang in joy. The kids ran out, excited for a good winter break. Meanwhile, both Marinette and Alya dragged behind the excited group.

"Man, I've gotta get some rest, girl!" Alya said, looking over at her bluenette friend.

Marinette yawned. "Agreed. See you over break?"

"Are you kidding me?" Alya chuckled out. "Of course!"

Marinette couldn't help but radiate a warm smile. "See you then!" she called out, back home to the bakery.

The walk was slow and uneventful. She stopped for cars before crossing the street, made sure she didn't bump into anyone, thought of things to do over break. Like sleeping. The thought of sleeping made the girl walk just a little bit faster.

Finally, she had arrived at the bakery. She opened the door, not slamming it this time around.

"Mom! Dad! I'm home!" Her voice echoed. Silence persisted. Not a whisper of talking, a clank of dishes, or a giggle of frosting messes.

Marinette, confused, shrugged off her backpack. Her purse rustled around, Tikki's sign of wanting out. She took her clammy hands and fiddled around with her purse before releasing her kwami friend.

"Marinette, is everything alright?" Tikki inquired. Marinette said nothing. All of her focus was on why her parents didn't respond.

"Mom? Dad?" she hollered. Nothing.

"Maybe they went out," Tikki said.

"Maybe," she muttered. She quickened her pace as she wandered into the front counter, then into the kitchen. Not a single taped note was found.

 _ **SQUISH!**_

Marinette looked down, seeing a stomped on a bag of rose red frosting. She turned around and looked down, seeing all that she needed to see. Red frosting hand prints streaked across the laminate floor. Two pairs of hands. The smaller one being her mother's, while the gigantic pair matched up with her father's.

Her heart was ready to pop out of her chest. What was going on? A pounding headache took place, making her lose focus. She suddenly felt light and dizzy.

"Tikki, what's going on?" she cried out. Her vision blurred as tears streaked down the girl's cheeks.

"I'll hide. You go call the cops, Mari," Tikki said, zipping off.

Marinette ran around, feeling lighter than air. Time seemed to have stopped, or maybe that was from just how dizzy she was. She pushed herself through the double doors and fumbled around for the phone. A loud clatter was heard as she knocked the phone off of the counter.

As she bent down to pick it up, she collapsed and fell right beside it. The anxiety and stress were too much. Why were her parents gone? Where had they gone off to?

Her vision, very much blurred now, managed to find the right numbers to dial. It wasn't long before someone picked up.

"112, what is the emergency today?"

Marinette could barely speak. "Yes, um, my parents are gone. I dunno where they went," her voice was almost gone. It was as though life was taking its huge hand and strangling her. "I think they were dragged out. I need the cops."

"What's the address?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Holy mother of Mrs. Agreste! Over 100 reads on the first chapter, and by the time I post the second chapter, and this fanfic gets over 200 reads! By the time I post this chapter, it's at over 400 reads! Man, this fanfic is growing fast! I'm so glad you all love it! I'm glad for all the support it's getting so far! Reviews are more than appreciated! Enjoy!**

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The wailing sounds of the police sirens filled the crying bluenette's ears as she stood in the bakery, shaking. She had managed to flip the sign over that read "Sorry! We're closed!" but was able to do nothing other than that. Marinette felt like at any moment she could pass out. She wished she could.

A cop car pulled up to a screeching halt. Two more cop cars stopped in their tracks right behind the first one. A small group of cops bursted out of the cars, running towards the bakery doors. As the cops entered in, Marinette stood there, frozen. A sour taste stained her tongue as the men and women in blue suits began to interrogate the place.

"Ma'am, is everything alright?" a cop asked, resting their hand on one of Marinette's stiff shoulders.

What did they mean? Of course she wasn't okay! Her parents literally disappeared with no signs of evidence other than the smeared handprints on the kitchen floor. Her parents were kidnapped, and they had the urge to ask her if she was okay?!

But Marinette couldn't do anything. Her mind and body wouldn't allow it. It begged her to stay still and panic. It was addicted to the troubled, scattered state she was stuck in. Marinette, however, was the exact opposite. She wanted to break free! She wanted to be Ladybug and throw her Lucky Charm in the air and have everything be fixed. To be normal again. If only.

The warm hand came off as cold and forced as the policewoman guided her up the stairs and into her bedroom.

"Please sit here while we investigate." Her words seemed empty and cold to the pale bluenette, stunned and not very aware of her surroundings. The cop walked off nonchalantly, leaving Marinette to sit on her bed for hours.

The door clicked, signifying its closing. Marinette buried her tight, balled up fists in between her thighs, letting any and all tears escape her cold, cerulean eyes. A certain kwami peeked out of its hiding spot and gazed around before zipping over to Marinette, who just sat still. Unmoving. Completely frozen.

"Marinette?" Tikki chimed. "Look, not knowing where your parents are is scary, but look on the bright side! At least the cops are here now to investigate!" Tikki's wide grin wilted as she saw the bluenette's brows furrow in fury.

"There is no bright side to this! My parents have been kidnapped! How can you find anything good in that?!" Marinette roared. Tikki flinched in fear, her antennas flattening. Marinette felt faint and light headed, collapsing onto the floor. Loud screeches of pain escaped her mouth as she cried in fury and sadness.

Footsteps were heard stomping on the steps and approaching the room. Tikki looked around briskly before flying off behind the computer monitor. The door clicked open and another cop's face appeared.

"Is everything alright up here, ma'am?" he asked, looking around the room.

Marinette's fists pounded onto the hardwood flooring, her head snapping up. "Why does everyone ask me that?!" She stood back up. "Yes! I'm okay! My parents were just kidnapped!" she hissed in sarcasm, the anger seeping in.

The cop sighed, his eyes softening, showing her understanding. He opened the door wider and slowly approached her. "I know that something very tragic has happened to you. Scarring, even. We just heard you yelling, and-"

"I was yelling for a reason!" Marinette screeched. Her mind finally caught up with her words. Why was she yelling? At the cops? They were here to help her, and this was what she was giving them in return? Absolute crap? Her breathes shook as tears continued to bathe her face. "S-Sorry," she said, apologizing. Her voice shook along with her body, ready to break. Her whole life was shattered in an instant, and she was the only thing left in her own world. And yet, she was just about ready to shatter as well. Cracks had already formed. It was only a certain amount of time before nothing in her world existed anymore. It was as though life was rubbing their shoe in her face. What did she do to deserve this?

"It's alright," the cop said. "You're not the only one. Many people react like this. It's completely normal." Security of normality isn't what Marinette was looking for. Rather, who had done this horrific crime and why.

"Thanks." She didn't know why she said that. What had he done? Not walk out on her when she yelled at him?

"No problem, ma'am," he replied.

"The name's Marinette," she croaked, looking over to the other side of her bed. "How long will this investigation last?"

The policeman stopped in his tracks and slowly turned around. "I dunno. A good two hours or so. We'll need to interrogate you afterwards."

Marinette nodded as the policeman left, closing the door behind him. As soon as he left, Tikki came flying over.

"Maybe you just need some rest. I know that won't make everything better, but at least it's better than worrying about everything right now, right?" Tikki offered, her voice showing doubt.

"Maybe, Tikki." Marinette stood up, her legs shaky like spaghetti for a lack of better term. They were numb, just like her state of mind. The souring taste in the back of her mouth grew to the tip of her tongue and down her throat before coating her stomach.

Marinette began fumbling down the loft and out of her room. "I'll be right back," she managed to get out. Tikki chased after her, only to be greeted to the bathroom door and the retching sound of the bluenette emptying her contents.

After her clammy mess of stress puking, she collapsed back onto her bed up in the loft. The sun filtered in through the sheer curtains, showing that it was well into the afternoon still. Throwing up didn't make Marinette feel any better. Only worse. The bright sunlight only made her feel more nauseous.

The taste of acid and bitterness coated her mouth, tempting her to vomit even more. However, she resisted. She was far too tired to do it again. Instead, she pulled up the quilt and nothing more, leaving her day clothes, parka, mittens, and even snow boots on as she only remembered to throw off her hat. Marinette couldn't think straight, and that was clear from the get-go.

"Goodnight Tikki," she mumbled out, the darkness enveloping her vision as she slept.

* * *

It was well past five in the evening when Marinette woke up to the sounds of knocking at her bedroom door. Her blurred vision showed no signs of Tikki. "Come in," she slurred, not fully awake just yet.

A couple of policemen sauntered into the room. "I see you've rested, ma'am." one of the policeman said. Marinette threw the quilt off of her as she moved into a sitting position on the edge of her bed.

"Something like that," she commented. She yawned, still feeling tired.

"We're here for a quick interrogation. This is just personal information to file in for the crime." the first cop said.

"Unfortunately, we can't do a full on interrogation anytime soon, as Christmas is coming up. Coming to the police station may not happen until next week,' the second cop tagged on.

If Marinette had the voice and energy to, she would yell and scream at them, demanding a full on interrogation to get things moving along more quickly. "Okay," she croaked out.

"What's your name?"

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

"Age?"

"Sixteen."

The cops continued to ask her questions that Marinette simply found useless. Is your hair dyed or natural? Do you wear color contacts? Do you wear normal contacts? What school do you attend? Who is your teacher? Who are your friends? What did you do in the last twelve hours?

"I think that's enough for today," one of the cops said, standing up off the bed. The other closed their notepad and stood up as well. A buzzing sound filled the room. Marinette looked around and found her phone vibrating on her desk.

"Hello?" she croaked.

"M-Marinette? Why haven't you answered my calls?" It was Alya. Her tone wavered, and she sounded as though she were on the edge of tears.

"I was sleeping. Why?" she asked.

"I need you," Alya said simply. Balling was heard.

"Wh-What's wrong?" she asked, her stress skyrocketing again. "How can this get any worse?"

"What are you talking about?" Alya asked. "I j-just need your support. I haven't c-called the cops yet."

"What are you talking about?" Marinette asked, too tired to raise her voice. "Why are you talking about cops right now?" The two policemen raised eyebrows in confusion.

"What are you doing right now?" Alya asked.

"Why are you asking me?" she asked in return.

"I-I just want t-to make sure you're n-not busy at the m-moment." A sniff came through the phone.

"What are you talking about?" Marinette asked again.

"Could you just answer m-my questions and then m-maybe I could answer y-your q-q-questions!" she barked, crying again.

"Alright, alright. I'm sorry," she apologized. "The police are over at the house right now."

"Wh-Why?" Alya inquired.

"Could you at least tell me why you're calling me crying a-and mentioning the c-cops?" Marinette begged.

A sigh was heard from the other side of the line.

"M-My parents have been kidnapped, Mari. I need comfort."


	4. Chapter 4

**Over 600 reads?! You've gotta be kidding me, this is so amazing! Thank you all so much for enjoying this! I enjoy writing it for you all! Finally, a slightly longer chapter! I hope you guys haven't minded the short-ish chapters. I hope that I made this chapter and the previous chapter realistic for stress/anxiety when it comes to something traumatic happening (in this case, Marinette's parents being kidnapped.) Remember, reviews are more than welcome! Enjoy!**

* * *

Marinette had forgotten to change into her pajamas. She only realized that when she woke up at four in the morning and couldn't fall back asleep. The tired bluenette continued to toss and turn, feeling sweaty hot on the outside but icy cold on the inside.

"How long has it been?" she croaked, expecting that only a few minutes had gone by. Instead, she was met with a much longer time. "Five in the morning?" she whined. Deciding that there was no use in trying to fall back asleep, she threw off her covers and kicked off her shoes. Marinette shrugged off her parka and turned on her bedside lamp on.

The bright light made the bluenette's headache noticeable and quite painful. The throbbing came quick and made Marinette remember what had just exactly happened the day before.

"Tikki, I'm gonna take an ibuprofen before hopping into the shower," she croaked out, not noticing that Tikki was fast asleep. As she made her way down the stairs of the loft and out of the bedroom, her headache just got worse and worse.

By the time she reached the bathroom, she begged to chug down the whole bottle. Her shaky hand opened the medicine cabinet and gripped onto the bottle. As she opened the lid, the throbbing was so painful, she wished to fall on the floor and cry. Instead, she shook out a couple of pills and put the lid back on, not even bothering to put it back in the cabinet. Marinette threw the pills back in her mouth and swallowed without and assistance of water. She didn't even think twice about it. The bitter taste of the pills tingled on the back of her tongue, slowly infecting the rest of her tongue.

Marinette shuffled over to the shower and turned it on, going back to her bedroom to get new clothes for the day along with towels. The sounds of drawers opening and closing woke the small kwami from her little bed.

"What time is it?" she asked, yawning.

"Too early for me to be awake," Marinette grunted out. The ladybug kwami zipped over to Marinette's alarm clock.

"Five in the morning?!" Tikki asked, appalled.

"I woke up at four and couldn't go back to sleep," the bluenette explained.

"Well maybe that's because you didn't change into your pajamas last night," Tikki said.

"I know," Marinette retorted, "but I really don't care about that right now. What's on the agenda for today?" she asked her kwami friend.

Tikki scratched her chin before remembering the events. "Oh, well, the cops plan on picking you up and taking you to Alya's today, remember?"

Marinette bit her lip to prevent her from swearing. "Yea, forgot about that. What time?" she asked, finding an oversized Chat Noir sweatshirt.

"Sometime this afternoon," Tikki confirmed.

"M'kay," she muttered, pulling out the first pair of jeans she found. They were quite baggy for her, almost one size too large. There were a few rips and even a patch on them. Marinette didn't mind and began searching for some undergarments.

After finding some undergarments and a couple of towels, Marinette headed back into the bathroom and stripped down, removing her signature pigtails as she stepped into the shower. The water burned, but the bluenette didn't care. She slid down and sat on the floor of the shower, crying without any tears. They were all gone from the day before.

An hour later, Marinette turned off the shower. Her headache was almost gone, but it didn't make Marinette feel any better. She took her time putting on her clothes for the day and didn't even bother to brush out her hair, let alone blow dry it. Her stomach growled, begging for food. Marinette made her way to her bedroom and sat in her desk chair, logging into her computer.

"Feeling better?" Tikki asked. "More awake, I mean," she corrected.

"Something like that," Marinette said blandly, finding the local news.

The morning anchorwoman sat at her desk in an awful mustard yellow suit. It didn't go with her dark skin or curly, sandy blonde afro. And why did she have wear neon pink lipstick?

"You don't need to be Ladybug to save this woman's day," Tikki teased.

Marinette would've laughed any other day, and Tikki understood that. She understood that her kwami friend was just trying to brighten up the mood, and she allowed that.

"Good morning, Paris. I am your host, Marie Lachance, and the time is six o' one in the morning. Today we bring you startling news. Yesterday, an emergency call came from the well renowned Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie-"

"Marinette!" Tikki yelped. "You're on the news." Her antennas flattened, knowing that the bluenette would not take a liking to this.

Marinette did the best growl she could with her voice nearly gone. Her brows furrowed in fury. "They never mentioned that I would be in the news!" she croaked.

"I think they did, Marinette. You just didn't pay attention," Tikki said, sighing.

"Pay attention me-"

"Now over to our reporter out in the front of where the crime scene took place. Drystan Bonheur, onto you."

The front of the bakery was being broadcasted for millions to see. Marinette didn't like that one bit. In fact, she despised it. It made her sick, quite literally. Her appetite had faded away.

"Yes, Marie, I'm over here at the scene of the crime. Cops came here yesterday around three in the afternoon after the daughter of the two owners, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, called 112 when she noticed that her parents were gone without any notice."

The call played. Her voice was on the air. And it scared her. She cried. Again. No tears. Again. Just loud wailing. The memories came flooding back. The emotion, the feelings, they all came back to her.

Her head felt light and dizzy, a nauseous knot forming in the pit of her stomach, her body shook as tears began to form. Only a few drops trickled down her cheeks as she formed her body into the fetal position and fell off the chair. Her voice on the computer echoed in her ears, bringing her more fright.

What seemed like hours, days, and even years was only a matter of a few minutes. Her voice faded away from her ears, and everything seemed to fall back down to normality. Well, as normal as things were. And they were not normal at all. Not to Marinette, at least.

Tikki flew over. "Maybe a morning patrol to clear your mind?" she offered.

Marinette didn't feel too tired as much as too weak to do so. "N-No, Tikki," she croaked.

"Now, back to you, Marie," the man said on the screen. Marinette lifted herself up with the help of her desk and turned her computer off.

"No breakfast this morning?" Tikki was around Marinette long enough to know when she loses her appetite.

Marinette nodded, shuffling up to the loft and plopping onto the bed. Within seconds, she fell asleep. Tikki had a feeling that her bluenette friend would sleep in if not reminded. She flew up and over to her alarm clock and set it to noon exact.

* * *

 _"_ _Mom! Dad! I'm home!" she yelled, gripping onto a familiar looking envelope in her hand._

 _Her mother came walking out from the kitchen with a piping bag full of rose red frosting. The tip was quite sharp._

 _"_ _Welcome home, Honey! How was school today?" Sabine asked. Marinette took a look at her mother's hands. They were covered in red frosting._

 _"_ _Mom? Why are your hands covered in frosting?" she asked. Her mother simply ignored her and called her father over._

 _"_ _Honey! Marinette's home!" she called out. Tom came strolling in, his hands covered in red frosting as well. Marinette felt her heart pounding in fear. What was going on?_

 _Sabine gave her a worried look. "Is everything alright, Sweetie?" she asked._

 _Marinette cleared her throat. "Ah, um, no?" she lied through her teeth._

 _Her parents looked at each other before shrugging. Suddenly, a loud shatter boomed through the bakery._

 _"_ _Marinette! How many times do I have to tell you to not slam the door! Now the glass has shattered!" But it wasn't her who did it._

 _The figure looked all too familiar. Was that, Heiress Hive?_

 _She flew in and turned around to face Marinette. "Why hello, Ladybug!" she cackled out._

 _"_ _S-Stop looking at me with those freaky eyes of yours!" Marinette yelled._

 _"_ _Aw, are you afraid of me?" she said in a putting down tone. "Go to your mama and cwy to hewr! Wah! Wah!" she teased._

 _"_ _Stop it!" Marinette hissed._

 _"_ _Why should I?" she asked. She grabbed a black ring out from one of her pockets._

 _"_ _Chat Noir's miraculous!" Marinette cried out._

 _"_ _Want it?" Heiress Hive said. "Here ya go!" she tossed it up like a coin. The ring grew in size and landed with a loud thud. At that moment, the world shattered into millions of pieces and fell. There was only a black void, her parents, and Heiress Hive. The ring floated up and shrunk, squeezing Marinette's body quite tightly._

 _"_ _Stop this, Heiress Hive! What are you doing, anyway?" she yelled, kicking in frustration._

 _"_ _You'll see," Heiress Hive hissed in mischief._

 _Heiress Hive flew over to her parents and ripped the piping bag out of her mother's hands. She gripped the bag in between her teeth as she took her hands and grabbed onto one of her mother's legs and one of her father's legs. They began wailing and crying._

 _"_ _Ladybug! Help us!" Their hands laid in front of them, the red frosting dragging across the black void._

 _"_ _T… T… T…" She couldn't say it. Marinette couldn't physically call out Tikki to save the day. Her body shook violently as she heard the wailing screams of her parents. The pain could be felt gnawing in the core of her bones._

 _Heiress Hive flew up to Marinette. "Wanna see what I did?"_

 **BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!**

* * *

 **BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!**

Marinette flung up from her bed, cold sweat covering her body. The bluenette breathed heavily as she woke up from her nightmare. Tikki flew over to see what happened.

"Marinette, what happened?" she asked.

Marinette looked up at her kwami friend, her pupils dilated slightly. "I had a nightmare, Tikki. That's all," she croaked out. The beeping continued to fill the air. Marinette leaned over and slammed the off button on her alarm clock.

Her stomach growled, ready to eat. At least she gained her appetite back. Marinette yawned and stretched before getting up off her bed and heading to the kitchen. She shuffled down the stairs, not ready to head into the room she needed to go into.

"I dunno, maybe I should go out to eat, Tikki," she said.

"Just run in there, grab the first thing you see in the fridge, and run out," Tikki suggested.

After a few minutes of breathing exercises, Marinette bolted into the kitchen and back out again with what appeared to be a salad.

The bluenette took her time eating her lunch, anticipating the cops coming. While she crunched on her salad, Tikki fluttered beside her and kept her company. They had a short conversation about the contents of the salad before moving on to a different topic. One in particular that Marinette had forgotten about.

"So Marinette, what about the party?" Tikki asked. Marinette raised an eyebrow of confusion.

"What are you talking about, Tikki?" Her voice wasn't any more or less hoarse.

"You know? The Agreste Holiday Party?" Tikki reminded.

Marinette nearly choked on her bite of food. "I totally forgot about that!" she yelled as loudly as she could.

After the long debate about figuring out what to do and how Marinette would get her dress made in time, a familiar police car pulled up to the front of the bakery. Tikki hid behind the counter while Marinette poked at her food, realizing that she had only eaten half of her salad. She headed back into the kitchen and threw the rest of her lunch away before dashing out to see a policewoman entering in the bakery.

"Ready to go, Marinette?" she asked.

"Just a moment. I just finished lunch. I've gotta get my purse and I'll be ready to get out of here," she explained. She ran upstairs and grabbed her purse that hung on her bedpost before remembering her phone and throwing it in her purse as she ran back downstairs.

As she walked over to the counter, she felt her purse shake as Tikki flew into the purse. She closed it up and walked over to the door. "Ready to go whenever you are," she said.

The policewoman nodded and opened the door for the bluenette, who flushed and nodded before quickly walking up to the cop car. The policewoman caught up with Marinette and opened the car door for her.

"Th-Thank you," Marinette said nervously.

"No problem," the policewoman said in response.

The ride to Alya's was quiet. Marinette got the guts to text Alya to say that she was on her way. The two had a brief conversation before Alya decided that her nerves got to her too much and that she would see her there.

By the time they pulled up, three other cop cars were at the front of the house already. The policewoman got out of the driver's seat and extended her ebony arm to open the passenger door. Marinette stepped out and quickly walked over to the house. Without knocking first, she opened the door to see her best friend wiping her tears.

"M-Marinette!" she chimed, running over and nearly tackling her friend. "I'm s-so glad y-y-you're here!" Marinette hugged her friend back.

She finally felt comfort for once over the past couple of days.


	5. Author's Note (IMPORTANT!)

Hey guys!

I usually don't like to post author notes, but this one is important. I haven't been updating lately for one reason.

School.

Finals, to be specific.

They're a pain in the ass! Once this month is over, however, I will begin posting again.

Thank you all for over 800 reads total while I've been inactive. I love and appreciate every single one of you readers!

 _-EmmaTheFangirl02_

 **UPDATE!**

Here's a little preview of the next chapter:

Alya walked off and towards the double doors that led to the kitchen. As she opened the doors, her body froze. Her eyes laid upon the caution tape that perimitered a large portion of the kitchen floor. She was left speechless. This is what her best friend had to deal with? She didn't know what was worse. Having a glaring piece of evidence that your parents were kidnapped or having none.


End file.
